The PreK-3 Principal Leadership Series provides “a structure and a set of principles that can guide principals in creating and supporting connections” between the intersecting worlds of PreK and K-12. School leaders will have opportunities to learn from national and state PreK-3 leaders on the principal’s role in leading PreK-3. Participants will reflect on their current context and needs identified through self-assessments. There will be time to discuss new, research-based information and create action plans to support effective PreK-3 implementation.The Leadership Series is designed to develop principal competencies outlined in the National Association of Elementary School Principals’ Leading Pre-K-3 Learning Communities: Competencies for Effective Principal Practice.

Goal: To build and support the capacity of principals to systematically and effectively lead PreK-3 efforts in their schools and communities to improve the learning outcomes for all children.

Principal Leadership Series Overview

OverviewThe Principal Leadership Series was created by using three key resources:

Leading Pre-K-3 Learning Communities: Competencies for Effective Principal Practice from the National Association of Elementary School Principals (available on next tab).

Supporting ResourcesThe Five Attributes of Successful SchoolsThe first attribute is quality leadership. Students perform better when the principal and school board members provide strong leadership. Effective leaders are visible, can successfully convey the school's goals and visions, collaborate with teachers to enhance their skills, and are involved in the discovery of and solutions to problems.
- from Matthew Lynch, June 29, 2016, Education Week's blogs, Click Here to read further

Why Elementary School Principals MatterThe introductory brief in the series, Principal's Corner: Perspectives on Teaching and Learning in PreK-3rd Grade, establishes the importance of principals as early education leaders. The six briefs take a closer look at principals’ perceptions of what should take place in pre-K and early grade classrooms, while offering recommendations for states and school districts in regard to building principals’ expertise in this area.

Accolades for PLS

Participant Feedback
"The sessions are helpful and full of great information. The team planning time is very helpful and I am in a better position to lead… I can't tell you how much this program has helped me grow as a leader! All I can say is 'wow'!"
- Mark Ziebarth, Principal in Cambridge-Isanti

Professional ReportsA Tale of Two Pre-K Leaders: How State Policies for Center Directors and Principals Leading Pre-K Programs Differ, and Why They Shouldn’tClick Here, Abbie Lieberman, New America Foundation

Early Education Preparation for Principals: A Look at the Leading StatesClick Here, EdCentral

The Nuts and Bolts of ESSA: What Principals Need to Know to Support High Quality Early Childhood Education and LeadershipClick Here, Webinar on Thursday, April 21.

PreK-3 Models

In the first session, we may briefly discuss examples of PreK-3 programs, like the Child-Parent Center program and First School. If you would like to see examples of other PreK-3 models, visit the National PreK-3 Programs page.

Doug Paulson, STEM Specialist, Division of Academic Standards and Instructional Effectiveness, Minnesota Department of Education.
Doug has experience teaching and as an administrator from kindergarten through 9th grade in several districts prior to coming to the department. He provides leadership as a Board Director on several Minnesota organizations as well as the Council for State Science Supervisors and was appointed to the National Academy of Engineering Committee on Guiding Implementation of K-12 Engineering Education. Doug was named in 2011 as an ASCD Emerging Leader and has presented at National Conferences for ASCD, NSTA, ITEEA, and US DoE. He is currently working on his Ed.D. at Bethel University and is currently working on research projects on data system indicators, gender equity in STEM, and integration of computer science. Doug is active on social media at @DPaulsonSTEM.

Resources

FirstSchool
FirstSchool partners with school communities to focus on improving PreK-3rd grade school experiences for African American, Latino and low-income children and their families. The FirstSchool team provides research expertise and professional development support in collaboration with districts, schools, administrators, and teachers.Click Here

Hawai'i Preschool-Third Grade Education Reform Initiative: How Well Did P–3 Work?The RAND Corporation conducted a five-year evaluation of the Hawai'i P–3 initiative from 2009 through 2014. This brief summarizes the key findings, focusing on how the P–3 initiative was implemented and whether it improved third grade reading scores.Click Here, RAND Corporation

Frequently Asked QuestionsQ: Who should attend?
A: The one person who should attend all five sessions is the principal. The principal should decide who are the best leaders to attend with him/her for each session. Superintendents or other school leaders who can influence PreK-3 in the district/community are ideal for Sessions 1 and 5, since these focus on PreK-3 leadership and include a nationally-recognized superintendent (Day 5). Sessions 2, 3, and 4 focus more on instruction, instructional leadership, and assessment. Directors of Teaching and Learning and other instructional leaders are ideal partners on these days. See the "Overview" tab for more information on the design of the PLS.

Q: Where should I park? Is it free?
A: Parking is free and is best accessed from Larpenteur Avenue. It is easiest to enter the Event Center from that parking lot as well.

Q: We are planning an overnight stay. Are there hotels nearby?
A: There are a number of hotels in the Roseville area, which provide convenient access to TIES. One option is the Roseville Radisson hotel (contact the Radisson at 651-636-4567 and ask for the MESPA rate).

Session 1: Embracing the PreK-3 Learning Continuum

GOAL: Effective principals embrace a concept of high-quality early learning from age three to grade three as the foundation for children’s developmental growth(Leading Pre-K-3 Learning Communities: Competencies for Effective Principal Practice, p. 11).

Current Science of Early Learning and Brain Development
Megan Gunnar, PhD, Director of the Institute of Child Development, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, University of MinnesotaWelcome from Dr. Gunnar, The Gunnar Laboratory for Developmental Psychobiology Research.Click Here for slidesLENA Start: Minnesota 2016 Annual Report,Click Here, or MN Talks!, Click Here

Principal as P-3 Leader: Excellence in the Early Grades for All Students
Steve Tozer, PhD, Professor in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois at ChicagoClick Here, Presentation 1Money, Race and Success: How Your School District ComparesClick Here, NY Times

How Effective Is Your School District? A New Measure Shows Where Students Learn the MostClick Here, NY Times, December 5, 2017

Educational SystemEssential Organizational Supports for Early Education: The Development of a New Survey Tool to Measure Organizational ConditionsClick Here, University of Chicago Consortium on School Research

An Exploration of Instructional Practices that Foster Language Development and Comprehension: Evidence from Prekindergarten through Grade 3 in Title I SchoolsClick Here, Institute of Education Sciences

PK-3: What Does It Mean for Instruction?Click Here, 2017, Society for Research in Child Development, 30(2).

Evaluating Early Childhood Educators: Prekindergarten Through Third GradeClick Here, Center on Great Teachers & Leaders at American Institutes for Research and CEELO

FirstSchool: Time Is of the EssenceClick Here, Issues in PreK-3rd Education, Number 5

New Jersey Schoolchildren Get Few Choices on How to Spend Time: Teachers are surprised by study showing only 3% of day is devoted to pursuits students pick themselvesClick Here, Wall Street Journal, March 6, 2017

What Works for Third Grade ReadingClick Here, North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation

From Deficit to Distinction: Restructuring for Early ChildhoodClick Here, Yvonne Caamal Canul, Superintendent Lansing School District

Session 1: Embracing the PreK-3 Learning Continuum

GOAL: Effective principals embrace a concept of high-quality early learning from age three to grade three as the foundation for children’s developmental growth(Leading Pre-K-3 Learning Communities: Competencies for Effective Principal Practice, p. 11).

Current Science of Early Learning and Brain Development
Megan Gunnar, PhD, Director of the Institute of Child Development, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, University of MinnesotaWelcome from Dr. Gunnar, The Gunnar Laboratory for Developmental Psychobiology Research.Click Here for slidesLENA Start: Minnesota 2016 Annual Report,Click Here, or MN Talks!, Click HereOnline M.A. in Applied Child and Adolescent DevelopmentClick Here

Principal as P-3 Leader: Excellence for All Students
Steve Tozer, PhD, Professor in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois at ChicagoClick Here, Presentation 1Leadership for Teacher Learning, Dylan Wiliam, Leadership for Teacher Learning: Creating a Culture Where All Teachers Improve So That All Students Succeed, Click Here.Peak: How to Master Anything by Anders EricssonClick Here, YouTube

Key Points & Strategies

Session 1: Embracing the P3 Learning Continuum

1.1 Engage your learning community in understanding the importance of the early learning continuum and the transitions along it.

Attending and sharing at preschool collaborative meetings. (Austin)

Develop a common definition of the PreK-3 learning continuum.

Determine what the current early learning system(s) look like in your community.

Define and work to learn all the players in our PreK-3 learning community.

Talk to people in your learning community about the importance of the early learning continuum.

Developed materials that show the early learning continuum, which included key research findings, and transitions.

Form committee consisting of early childhood staff and elementary staff. (Litchfield)

Early Childhood Initiative that has worked to create an connected environment in the community. We have also set up a team of PreK - ECSE and Kindergarten group that has met to discuss transitions. (Northside/Armstrong)

Sit and chat at Footsteps about Kindergarten in the spring. Maybe a community ed. class about preparing your child for kindergarten. Maybe offer a session for day care providers on early childhood to help them earn their continuing ed. credits. (Dover-Eyota)

Early Childhood Supervisor doing school visits to connect with all staff. (New Prague)

EC created a bookmark to share with students/families as they transition to Kindergarten with expectations. (New Prague)

In the Fall of 2017, we will be opening a new building which will be the home of all district kindergarten and early childhood programs. I will be engaging our new community in November and December. We will use an "Infinity Exercise" to ask questions like: how do we create a culture that makes our Early Childhood/Kindergarten Center a place that Families go for 1-6 years? (Monticello)

By adding more voices to the table would help to show the importance ofPrek-3rd grade learning and transitions. Started to share more data and strategies of early learning and the importance of it. (Farmington)

Began with a study of early childhood literature review and best practice. Visited other districts pre K-3. Followed by a community survey around universal preK interest and various models. (Hopkins)

Teachers need to have a clear understanding of the development of their students, i.e. Yardsticks by Chip Wood. Book study? Principals received a copy of this at the Responsive Classroom training. (Stillwater)

Investing time to collaborate among staff through PreK-3 and QComp programming. Utilizing this time to develop curriculum transition throughout PreK-3. (Stephen-Argyle)

Use of social media to engage communities (Website, FB, Twitter) as well as providing and offering Newsletters, Open House, Pop in and Play, Early Childhood Family Education Opportunities, Special Events, Learning Fair, Early Childhood Initiative/Dolly Parton Imagination Library, etc. (Stephen-Argyle)

Commitment from school board and superintendent to grow our PreK programs (more 1/2 day every day opportunities; offer full day program option). (Hastings)

Offer wrap-around services (before and after school care). (Hastings)

Weekly Principal email includes an "Early Childhood Facts" section to increase the knowledge of the early learning continuum - needs next steps to continue to build collective knowledge about all early learning stages - utilizing EC Family Outreach person (Mounds View)

In order to be better prepared for incoming preK children, we have begun a partnership with officials from around Morrison County. These partners include public health, Head Start, ECFE, schools, and more. We are hoping to have better knowledge of births, in and near our district, to families who intend to have their children attend our school. The purpose of our task is to give us the ability to have contact with families at a very early age so we can begin to build a relationship with parents long before children come to school. We think, if we can gather this information, we can help educate parents regarding the importance of this competency. (Pierz)

Learning Walks - Create opportunities for PreK and K teachers to spend time in each other's rooms to observe routines, schedules, and student learning at that level. (Moorhead)

1.2 Set expectations that the continuum of learning from age three to grade three is fundamental to your school’s mission.

Include preschool teachers in Kindergarten PLCs.

Aligned expectations across PreK-K (e.g. 10 thing parents can do to make their child ready for K). (Austin)

It is a part of our district goals and addressed monthly at ACGC board meetings. (ACGC)

Principal is active in ensuring that expectations and practices for PreK and K-3 are similar. This ranges from class start times to transportation to the availability of resources (e.g. materials, space, specialists, etc).

Principal treats PreK like another grade level. He/she ensures that PreK is always involved, whether it is professional development or building improvement plans.

The goal of the committee will be to develop an action plan to bridge the gap between early childhood and the elementary school. (Litchfield)

Worlds Best Workforce placed Kindergarten Readiness as key strategy for the District. Voluntary PreK has integrated Preschool into the K12 system. (Northside/Armstrong)

Building principal shares in and supports the school's mission for this continuum by incorporating this into WBWF, encourage and support K-3 staff. (Pine City)

Teachers engage in vertical learning of standards and common goals within our PLC work. (Pine City)

Continue to bring to light and have expectations of research based learning (ie: John Hattie, Carol Dweck) (Pine City)

Continued collaboration between our Early Childhood Supervisor, Curriculum Director and Elementary Principals to ensure common language and high expectations. (New Prague)

We have our superintendents and former superintendent leading us in some exercises to see what is important in the three buildings and building a new mission, expectations, and visions. Expectations: 1) Make learning fun while teaching standards 2) Engagement with hands-on activities that lead students towards critical thinking, creative play, and focused learning 3) Students in our programs need opportunities to get dirty and sweaty (Monticello)

Collaboration with Special Education. We also need to focus on the parent education to focus on fine motor, social behavior and age appropriate needs of their children. (Farmington)

Having ECFE and preschools in each elementary school is a very visual reminder for us that Pre K is fundamental. (Hopkins)

Raise awareness of Worlds Best Workforce. (Stillwater)

Making certain to include prek in all school activities. Build a culture of prek inclusion. District committed to prek in every elementary building by 2017-18. (Stillwater)

District-wide goals in improving early learning transitions. Expansion to 3 day a week, 4 year old, PreK program. (Stephen-Argyle)

Creating a positive school community through social media forms (Newspaper, Posters, FB, Twitter, Website). (Stephen-Argyle)

This was the area our group identified as the highest priority area. We need to reach out to key stakeholders. We need to define expectations for continuum of learning—-what are the benchmarks? What does continuum of learning look like in Hastings? How are they articulated, realized, and shared to whole district community. (Hastings)

Stress the value of age 3 to grade 3 in the development of school vision / mission at the Kindergarten Centers - reflect with our Early Childhood colleagues as to the components needed in our elementary school's mission statements as well (Mounds View)

Feedback Loop - Strengthen the in-house vertical alignment piece with EIS/Jump Start through additional meeting times and shared files to improve the transition to Kindergarten. (Moorhead)

1.3 Expand the concept of “learning community” to include collaboration among external, as well as internal, stakeholders.

Development of "Packer in Training" videos with mayor and other public officials so we ALL see that we ALL want high-quality learning. (Austin)

Formed a Birth to Grade 3 committee, which includes public, private, charter, child care providers, preschool, to participate in the effort to have ALL children in our community ready for K. (Winona)

Include PreK parents and educators on district advisory committee. Gather ideas for collaboration, gain support by external stakeholders. This also includes district education goals for P-3 literacy. (ACGC)

Principal makes connections to community preschool providers in addition to other programs that work with preschool-aged children.

Meet with community PreK providers to discuss children who will be entering Kindergarten.

Collaborative partnerships are built.

The committee will expand the learning community to be inclusive of all children within our district. (Litchfield)

Establish a District Advisory Team that will provide feedback ad support for Prek - 3 efforts. (Northside/Armstrong)

Informing families of school activities. (Pine City)

Continue the collaboration with daycares, private and public preschools etc. (Pine City)

Provide time embedded in our contracted day or after school for a stipend for our PreK and K teachers, within our district, time to collaborate and share expectations of learning and mastery. (New Prague)

We will be creating commercials to plug the mission of our new district early childhood programming. It is our hope that external partners see the videos and feel the need to collaborate. (Monticello)

By being able to involve parents, educators and students we can learn what needs we have and be able to let children drive our instruction. They need to play and learn social needs through play. (Farmington)

Using outside expert, such as Cheri Reeves, to work with PreK and Kindergarten teachers in a PLC model promote the concept of a learning community (Hopkins)

Conversations started about external collaboration Critical internal stakeholders are informed and collaborate Started having conversations with caregivers — very well received Outreach with Hastings Family Services for preschool Engaging the larger community Ongoing philosophical conversation in early childhood and outside providers (particularly with home FFN - family/friend/neighbor care) (Hastings)

Promote NIC (Networked Improvement Communities) that are focused on an identified problem and learning from others internally and externally. (Mounds View)

1.4 Articulate the long-term value of early learning and the benefit of inclusive early learning to parents and all learning community stakeholders.

Worked with our ECFE program to incorporate parenting education into our PreK-3 system. One goal of this was to work with families so that parents/caregivers understand what can be done at home (or out of school) to support children's learning.

We gathered internal school data on children reading at grade level. Then, we developed a plan to ensure all children would be reading by grade level (the plan included key benchmarks at by age, starting at two).

The long term value will be that all Litchfield children will be ready for Kindergarten. (Litchfield)

Developed a strong partnership with Kindergarten to provide several parent engagement opportunities for PreK parents and children together. Use local media to promote parents working with their children in collaboration with the school for age appropriate school readiness skills (Northside/Armstrong)

Early learning is the foundation for the rest of a child's educational career. (Pine City)

Early learning directly relates to maximizing growth, development, and preparation for children to experience future success at each school level (elementary school, middle school, and high school). (Monticello)

Monthly newsletters to parents of preschoolers articulate the importance of early learning. (Hopkins)

A video on our district website is available for the community. (Hopkins)

The district newsletter has dedicated a couple of editions to early childhood and this goes to all residents. (Hopkins)

Elementary principal visits ECFE class. (Hopkins)

Providing information and opportunities for families through newsletters, social media, ECFE, special events, DPI Library, Pop in and Play. (Stephen-Argyle)

Good conversations and programming started (i.e. Little Raiders, Full time programming). Philosophical change from preschool programming being designed for kids at risk only to all community. (Mounds View)

Change in perception of the programming. Kids are still heavily part of the program with scholarships but now do both transportation and going to full day is necessary - very clear GT training for precocious learners (Mounds View)

PTAC - Educate parents on the importance of and benefits from supporting their child's learning at home. Provide literacy and math game nights for teachers to model strategies that are being taught in the classroom. (Moorhead)

1.5 Align funding, resources and governance to support the Pre-K-3 framework.

Examined funding to see not only what funding goes into early childhood programming, but also what other funding (e.g. Title I) can be used to support PreK programming and services.

Carefully examined the administration of early childhood programs and clearly articulated the principal's role. In addition, we detailed the role of the principal in our PreK-3 work. We will be looking at the role of other administrators to determine their role, or level of support, in early childhood.

Our goal is to create one prek program with optional services. In our design, we will look at all funding sources and then blend and braid funds.

The Community Education director and elementary principal will lead the team and provide the necessary resources to all staff. (Litchfield)

VPK program provided valuable dollars and strategies that moved this strategy forward in our District. A District commitment has been made for support for teachers and buildings with out without the VPK funding. (Northside/Armstrong)

Continue/increase the collaboration with other agencies (i.e. Head Start, Private Preschools) (Pine City)

Through our SMIF grant, we will begin alignment. Our district will provide additional funding as needed. (New Prague)

Work with legislators and the legislative action committee of the district to promote funding for early childhood education. (Hopkins)

Prek administrator is a part of the principal team and is required to have an administrative licensure. Articulate how prek teachers work with student support services within their buildings. (Stillwater)

School Board commitment to expanding PreK programming days/hours. School support for PreK-3 staff development opportunities. Resources available for EC space, activities, and opportunities. (Stephen-Argyle)

Strategic Priorities - The District philosophy, mission, and vision should be shared with all stakeholders. Building-level goals should support District goals within the PreK-3 framework continuum. (Moorhead)

1.6 Alignment: Lead and engage early childhood programs and staff consistent with elementary staff.

The first goal of he process is to include early childhood staff in staff development activities at the elementary level. (Litchfield)

Discussion of curriculum and assessment between K and PreK. (Northside/Armstrong)

Early Childhood and Elementary staff continue to collaborate during PLC (Pine City)

We are so happy to now have our early childhood program and staff in our building. We will be able to build alignment much more efficiently since they are on-site now (Dover-Eyota)

True PLC's will be created in our new building. Knowledge about and trust will be formed through upcoming staff development opportunities in November, December, January, and February. These opportunities will help district administration and me learn more about our new program/building staff members. This knowledge will lead us to develop staff development plans. (Monticello)

Professional development in the district is bringing preK and kindergarten together. PLCS with kindergarten and Pre K. CLR cohort with Prek and K (Hopkins)

Be intentional about conversations between prek-k teachers. Include prek staff in all meetings and activities of the school. Create a shared document that communicates FAQ and clarifies roles and responsibilities. (Stillwater)

QComp groups/PreK-3 Alignment Meetings (Stephen-Argyle)

Meetings with early childhood and kindergarten teachers throughout the year; Licensed early childhood teachers; PLCs; (Hastings)

Meet with teachers for the next two years to review and power-up standards. Align curriculum and common formative and summative assessments to the standards. Review current instructional strategies and review research on best practice instructional strategies to ensure the ones used in classrooms work.

We have begun the work by developing curriculum using the UbD framework. This will allow teachers to build curriculum from standards and learning goals. From there we will create multi-level grade level PLC's to bring teachers together to make connections between grade level curriculum for further discussion, changes and review.

Tailored PD that allows for standards walk -increase awareness of curriculum vs standards -understanding of how the above relate to student growth

Step 1: Develop end of year learning targets/goals for each level PreK-3. Step 2: Determine power standards to be covered at each level PreK-3. Step 3: Align standards, curriculum, and assessments to create a scope and sequence for the year. Step 4: Set up benchmark assessments to progress monitor. Step 5: Set and create sacred data days to review data to help guide intentional instruction and planning.

We need to have the mindset that our students come in with limitations, but we can't let that keep us from the mindset that all students are capable of learning and they will pick up on learning quickly. We can't have the mindset that "our students can't do that" because of these limitations and needs.

Continue PLC work

Having a vertical meeting, making a bubble map showing standards

Aligned curriculum to standards, identified/common assessments has been completed in subject areas - but is always adjusted. Vertical alignment of standards is the focus this year beginning with math, followed by ELA. Teams will begin meeting with grade levels above and below during collaborative team times.

On Early Release Days once a month, grade level teams will meet with the grade level before and after them to align standards and discuss grade level expectations in language arts and math.

We are going to look into the percentages for each block of time in preschool during the day and align them with Kindergarten.

Looking at the PreK components to our current reading curriculum. Looking into staff development for School Readiness teachers that centers around a literacy rich environment.

We should be able to track students' scores with CBMs, NWEA and other progress monitoring assessments to find out where the gaps are in all subject areas.

Reflection - how can my language arts standards be worked into science or PE

We have a new Pre-k-5 language arts curriculum that alligns the standards and includes the science, music, and social studies standards. There is also a new math curriculum for K-6 that is aligned to the math standards.

In addition to balanced literacy blocks and math, grade levels have prioritized time for science and social in the intermediate grades while primary grades have incorporated science and social into literacy instruction. Students also have specials which include PE, music, media literacy, and art.

2.3 Work with teachers and teacher leaders to develop an interactive, relevant and engaging early learning curriculum.

Creating how to videos (read to your child, questions to ask, math game to play) to share via Schoology, before our Halloween paras (because every family shows up EARLy)

Continue growing Mini MyWay work to expand to in-home daycare providers (currently within district and 13 childcare centers)

Our teachers have a curriculum, Big Day for PreK by Scholastic. They are also beginning work with the Human Centered approach within Design Thinking this summer. It will be a 3 year commitment.

We are hoping to have our first vertical conversation in January where we will share PreK and k outcomes with both groups. We will look for commonalities and begin discussion about how to support each other to make for a better transition to kinder.

We are going to use a collaborative group that is already established to work on the review process for the curriculum alignment.

We need to begin by researching and observing other programs that have pre-K programs already in place.

Continue PLC work (implementing stage)

We are aligning curriculum with PLC and PreK-3 meetings. We would like time for observations in other districts. We are also attending the Principal Leadership Series and bringing back what we are learning to our district. There are also some of our teachers who are taking the First Schools literacy online class and sharing ideas with our district. (Hill City)

Building leadership team and literacy team include representatives from early childhood through 4th grade. Area of continued focus to create seamless transition from preK thru 4th.

2.4 Create professional communities of practice to empower teachers to learn from each other and to improve instruction.

A teacher survey will hopefully be given out by the end of the month to further discussion in this area.

Work in PLC to align curriculum. Identify criteria for PreK and K entrance.

C&I to guide PLCs

Providing time for vertical teaming to take place.

Vertical teaming, and allowing time for teachers to observe others by covering for them.

We will be arranging observations so that preK and K teachers can see the kinds of student learning and development that goes on throughout the day in the classroom.

Create a protocol and classroom visit reflection sheet to shape the learning path for team classroom visits.

Changes in PLC structure, professional development planning, action research implementation

pilot a parent educator position that could help families in kindergarten that were in ECFE classes

We would like to make sure we are involving our School Readiness teachers in different meetings and committees throughout the district. Also, we would like to make sure teacher input is gathered correctly and used to improve instruction.

We are doing work with Marzano district wide. We have weekly early childhood collaborative meetings to work together and do what is best for the children.

Grade levels meet weekly during common prep time for 45 minutes and on professional development days. Agendas are created and shared back for feedback and support. Focus is curriculum, data analysis, instruction, intervention needs.

2.5 Ensure that staff members are able to support the varying abilities and needs of their students.

We are beginning to be more aware of SpEd and making the transition to identifying students who aren't making the progress. SpEd isn't just about discipline, but how the students are learning.

We are a small school with one grade level per grade. The Prek-3 leadership team will work together to talk about what worked for some of our students that might work in the next grade. We have weekly early childhood collaborative meetings that include the early childhood teacher and para, ECSE teacher and para, speech teacher, and director. These meetings offer staff a time to share what is working for our kids and what could be better.

Grade levels K-4 have a 30 minute WIN time for Tier 1 instructional needs. Schedules have block times to allow for intervention/SPED push in and pull out to avoid disruption of core instruction. During the literacy block guided reading instruction is focused at student level and need. Many classrooms use guided math to further meet needs. Training areas of focus: differentiation/instructional practices.

Alignment: Align instructional vision, practices, and support from early childhood to grade three.

We need to go back to vertical alignment and see what students are learning in each grade.

Vertical view of grades above & below - Visiting other classrooms - Time to collaborate - Discussing standards with other grades - Future: all teams will be transitioning into weekly PLC meetings (schedule in time to work with above & below grades) - Sp

We are bringing back ideas from the Principal Leadership series to our PLC, we have formed a Prek-3 team. We have set up a family math night for the end of November that will include PreK-3 teachers and families.

PreK-3rd grade teams have studied The Literate Kindergarten and have continued discussion of relevant practices, play in particular, throughout this year.

Session 3: Provide Personalized, Blended Learning Environments

Competency 3.1: Promote environments that are rigorous, developmentally-appropriate and support individual learning.

Increase Project-Based learning.

Support and implement classrooms that encourage student discussions.

Utilizing TS Gold resources.

Meetings with Kindergarten teachers and Pre-K teachers.

Ongoing progress monitoring tools.

Look at more training opportunities to support teachers on personalized learning.

PLC work - learning the vocabulary of standards - increasing hands on learning.

Administrative level allowing staff to try new strategies.

Develop a planning group to address preK-3 instruction/programming.

Competency 3.2: Facilitate the use of technology tools for learning and provide instructional leadership in schools to use technology effectively.

Professional developments on technology.

Access to more/different technology.

Utilizing technology with academic and intentional focus (not just using technology for the fun of it).

Reframe the definition of "technology" - share ideas with district.

Expand preschool representation into K-5 technology committee.

Continuous support/training as needed.

Competency 3.3: Support instructional use of appropriate technology and interactive media to support learning and development through work and play.

Communicate with parents through technology.

Smartboard for preschool room.

Utilizing apps & Smartboard.

Technology Integrationist position at 3 elementary sites (K-4).

District employs multiple layers of technology support (technology support for district hardware & software & technology integrationalist - support for classroom - i.e. help making a sign in on the smart tv)

Provide training for smart table, smart board, iPad integration to support learning with an emphasis on including intentional play to meet learning targets.

Talk with preschool team about observation data and using that for social/emotional goals

We are trying to communicate more and more in a pre-k model.

We are using team meetings to educate Prek and K teachers about the use, and some misuse of assessments and data.

Explore more effective assessments that will inform instruction. Increase the use of observation and anecdotal notes to assess student learning. Include Pre-K teachers in our K & 1 Data Retreats. Implement a data warehouse to better inform the teachers and public about student growth.

Grade 3 teacher created a fluency folders for reading for her students-parents are to spend 5minutes a day with their child reading a passage. The hope is that parents will understand the importance and see improvements, and children's fluency will increase.

Grade 3 created a poster with both reading and math fluency for parent conferences. Ideas for what to do at home are included Taking with school board about different types of assessments and why formative assessments are so valuable.

4.2 Support teachers in using multiple forms of assessments, along with observation, portfolios and anecdotal records, to guide student learning and growth all along the Pre-K-3 continuum.

Put an assessment team together to start aligning Gold standards to assessment report.

We currently use IGDI's for preschool, through MRC. We would like to find a math assessment to assess kindergarten readiness.

Meetings designed around data analysis

Develop cross-grade level PLCs with PreK and K to align assessments. Explore FAST as a tool that can be utilize K-3. Explore the development of a PLC within the Zumbro Education District for all PreK teachers.

This is consistently evident, with practices that elaborate and exceed expectations. Both PreK and K create and use portfolios for each student. This is shared with families throughout the school year.

Professional development regarding goals and needs for assessments.

Create assessment plan. Share portfolios and formative assessments with child's next teachers. Determine goals and needs for assessments Perform formative assessments to see if goals and needs were met.

4.3 Support open and collaborative discussions about assessment data with parents and community.

We are going to work toward sharing our data with community members and school personnel more frequently and effectively. We have successes, but rarely share the information with anyone.

Increase building time and collaboration time for preschool teachers to reflect, look at data, and collaborate.

1. Pull together representation from each level to discuss current ways in which we are assessing student learning. 2. Research schools/programs that are using multiple forms of assessment. 3. Brainstorm options, select multiple forms, and pilot. Document results - looking for the information we were able to collect, acknowledge the information missing. 4. Select tools to represent multiple forms of assessment. 5. Make a plan to train teachers.

Develop a communication loop for the parents and community using a various modes of communication.

Provide information and discuss with parents what assessment data is used for during conferences, phone conferences.

We are creating a poster of vertical alignment to hang in school. This will be prek-3. There will be one for math and reading first.

Vision 2025 - Academic Work Group - Community Education provided inservice for other preschools and providers to share ideas about K readiness.

4.4 Share information about program effectiveness among schools and other providers.

We feel we could do a better job of this. We feel we need to start the conversation of how to meet/confer b/w PreK and K and the effectiveness of our program with each other.

This is low on our triage of things to do at this time. We will visit this after we have accomplished strategies 4.1, 4.2, 4.3

Community Education provided inservice for other preschools and providers to share ideas about K readiness.

Cross-level walk-throughs with debriefing -Countdown to Kindergarten.

Alignment 4.5: Ensure our PreK-3 learning community has a common understanding of the types of assessments we are using in our classrooms and the purpose of each.

We are going to start the conversation on how to make this happen. We feel this would benefit both PreK and K to know and understand what each uses in our classrooms, to better align b/w PK and K.

Discussions of our needs, goals, and use of assessment data and alignment during PLC's Plan consistent use of assessments PreK-3 Teaches decide on what list of sight words to use.

Assess and revisit the K-3 Literacy plan, including preschool as well.

PreK-K Team meetings. Strategy: Move away from heavy emphasis on standardized testing as the sole judgement of school effectiveness to include emphasis on formative assessment.

Alignment 4.6: Ensure teachers have the supports they need in using common and consistent diagnostic and screening assessments, across age/grade levels, to identify children who need extra help or extra challenge.

Build in paid time to do this - formative assessments are important; we want to also not abandon summarize assessments that are needed for grant writing and funding, and to ensure standards are being met.

Let administration and school board become aware of what supports we need.

In each curriculum review, we are moving toward having staff identify trends (based on assessments) to inform practice and make resource and professional development decisions.

Session 5: Building Professional Capacity and Making Your School a Hub of P3 Learning